


epiphany

by mothmeal



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Barry Bluejeans Loves Lup, Barry Bluejeans/Lup-centric, F/M, How the absolute fuck is Taako more emotionally competent than these 2 idiots?, Lup loves Barry Bluejeans, Multi, Mutual Pining, POV Lup (The Adventure Zone), Secret Crush, Your honor they are full of love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-30
Updated: 2020-11-30
Packaged: 2021-03-10 01:08:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,479
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27795922
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mothmeal/pseuds/mothmeal
Summary: lup is in a bit of trouble, because pining is the pits (tmtmtm). a small little thing I write concerning the thoughts of Lup the cycle right before the legato conservatory.this started off as being based on mag fluff "epiphany" from the magnus archives, but grew much longer and more complicated than I had originally intended...as my writing is wont to do. Enjoy!!
Relationships: Barry Bluejeans/Lup, Lup & Taako (The Adventure Zone)
Comments: 7
Kudos: 13





	epiphany

**Author's Note:**

> good evening guys gals and enby pals I started writing this at 1am and it's now a quarter past 4. no beta, but it is edited (i'm getting better abt that!!).

-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Lup was trying to solve a Caleb Cleveland novel before the boy genius, to no avail, in her room on the Starblaster when she was interrupted by a knock on her door frame as Taako leaned in.

“Wus poppin’? Also, do you have any time?”

”Just trying to beat that little shit Caleb Cleveland’s mind, as per use. Besides, you’re always welcome in here dudeski, do you even need to ask?” Taako sidled in, and sat down facing her on the bed, which was a major clue towards what was about to happen.

“So, I hate to word it this way, but I’ve been sent here by the crew to, as Merle put it, ‘run an intervention’. Not my choice, but they figured you’d probably give me the best reception.” Lup’s heart raced. What could have….her mind wandered to the journal she had under her pillow, and she struggled to keep her emotions from showing on her face as her heart screamed that someone had figured it out.

“Oh no, am I getting written up by the cool police again?” She joked, and a smile briefly crossed Taako’s face before it disappeared.

“No, they wanted me to talk to you about Barry.” Her neutral expression fell, and she felt all of the air leave her lungs.

“Oh? And why is that?”

“Well, to put it straight out there, you’re being a major dipshit to my favourite nerd.”

“I -”

“ - actually, there’s more. Barry came to me because he thought he had done something wrong. Do I need to kick some ass?”

“No, no, Barry’s fine. I don’t know why he’d think I’m mad at him…

“Loopy, I can puzzle that one out for myself. You barely speak to him, and when you do, it’s not very polite.”

Lup thought about it for a second. Her goal was friendly, which obviously wasn’t working, but she thought she had been doing well. The problem was that if she started giving any slack, her self control might collapse, and it was better to just remain professional. It had just been a tiny crush, when it started. She was positive it would go away....but slowly, slowly, it simmered in her chest, rolling to a boil one night, about six months ago, because Barry dropped a beaker and the water splashed up, and it soaked his shirt, and he pushed his hair out of his eyes and shot her a grin over the lab table, and her heart stopped. So she had to keep it in, because it did her no good to pine without cause.

“Well?”

“We are coworkers….”

“You know just as well as I do that that doesn’t mean a damn thing. We haven’t been coworkers since that first cycle. Now, what’s up? Are you finally having a fatal personality clash with the guy?”

“Listen, I’m just….really not in the mood for it right now, but this is me, wizard swearing, right now, that we will have this conversation. I don’t think I can do it just this second, though.”

Taako sighed. “Fine, I’ll hold them off, but be nicer to ‘ol Barold, k? It’s not his fault.”

Lup nodded, miserably, because of course it wasn’t his fault, but he was blaming himself nonetheless. She couldn’t get a grip on her slippery heart, and resolved to make it up for him. Her way of making it up for him? Food. The next day, equipped with an apple pie and a determination to apologise, she searched around the Starblaster for Barry, eventually finding him out on the deck.

“Hey…”

Barry jumped, and Lup winced.

“Uhh, sorry. Didn’t really expect anyone else to be on the ship right now. One last night on the town and all?” He smiled sheepishly, and Lup was almost overwhelmed. She gathered her senses.

“I - I realised that I’ve been, to put it bluntly, a bitch as of late. And I just wanted to apologise, because none of it is your fault, I’ve just been feeling a little off for some time.” Barry’s face softened, and - focus, remember?

“So,” she got down on one knee (you only live once, right?) “Barold J. Bluejeans,” she looked up though her lashes at him, “will you please accept my humble apologies and also this delicious apple-ogy pie?”

“Of course, Lup, how could I even say no to that?” Fantasy jesus, how could he just say things like that? Lup hauled herself up, making a show of overbalancing so she could just grab his chair. The word desperate flashed in her mind, but she pushed it away.

“Well, this pie won’t eat itself, mind if I join you?”

“Not at all.”

So she sat, and longed, and watched the stars with a man that she’d grown so close to that it hurt. But for now, she enjoyed the moment while it lasted, and when she reached out and squeezed his hand, he squeezed back.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-

“How do I even say this?” Lup sighed in frustration and slammed her journal shut and starfishing on her bed.

“Dear esteemed coworker, I regret to inform you that I may be hopelessly in love with you…”

“-oooh, do tell!” Taako waltzed into her room like it was his own.

“I thought we had an anti-eavesdropping policy, asshole.”

“We both know you were spying yesterday -”

“Well, you were going to tell Lucrecia the perfect cook time to have the highest popped corn to kernel ratio, I thought I deserved to know…”

“Mhmm. Now, whatcha writing?” Taako asked, reaching for the small book, but Lup recoiled, hugging it close to her chest.

“Come on, Lulu, lemme see.” This was accompanied by little hand grabby motions.

“No - hey! Give it back?” She jumped for it, but missed as Taako, using mage hand, managed to phenagle it out of her grip. He held it up triumphantly, then started paging through it. Lup held her breath, but as per usual, he found the exact wrong place to stop.

“Hmmm, what have we here? Could it be?? My darling little sister - ”

“ - 4 minutes isn’t that much of a flex, dude.”

“No matter! Could it be that my sweet babyest sister has a love interest?”

“There’s no need to be so dramatic,” Lup said crossly, folding her arms across her chest.

“This calls for a celebration! Tell me, sister dearest, who might the sweetest apple of thy eye be?”

“You are aware that you’re in possession of a stolen journal, right? Give it back, and you might get their first initials.”

Taako pouted, then brightened. “I bet you 10 gp it’s someone on this ship…” He looked at Lup slyly, searching for any reaction, and instinctually, she avoided eye contact. Dammit.

“Hmm, not me, probably not you…Say, I haven’t noticed you writing in a journal before.” Taako rolled onto his stomach, propping his chin up with his hands and swinging his feet in the air, the picture of innocence. “Tell me about that.”

Lup’s stomach dropped. He basically had a 20% chance of sussing it out now, and she really didn’t like those odds. Oh well. She sighed.

“It’s not Lucrecia, I just find it easier to draft my epic declarations of love. Don’t you ever want to organize your thoughts?”

“I prefer my love declarations organic, all Taako originals, all the time. Preferably in mortal peril, although that’s not really needed.”

“To each their own…”

“Is it Magnus?”

“Do you really have to subject me to this?” Lup rolled over, hiding her face in her pillow. “It isn’t Magnus, though,” she replied, her voice muffled through the feathers.

“Davenport? Gotta say, his mustache is definitely on point. I can see the charm, if you like the ‘cursed butler’ energy.”

“If I just don’t answer, I have plausible deniability. I don’t have to tell you anything, law man.” Taako snorted.

“Hate to break it to you Loopy, but I am your most favourite older brother! Legally, you need to tell me who it is.”

“You are also my only older brother, but I’ll give you that it isn’t Davenport.” Taako let out a small sigh of relief.

“Kind of glad, not gonna lie. He might be a little old for you. Actually, now that I think about it, crossing Merle off the list too. Too...crunchy. Not to mention the plant thing” Taako grimaced, and then it was followed by a shit-eating grin. “Well, well, who does that leave?” He held up seven fingers, and then illustrated his points by putting one down with each name.

“It’s not me, not you, not Lucrecia or the crunchy man, not Davenport or Magnus....”

Lup resumed burying her face in her pillow. Maybe if she ignored Taako, he’d at least leave her with her shattered dignity, but realistically, she knew it wouldn’t happen. She braced herself, feeling Taako shift his weight towards her. He whispered in her ear.

“I’m quite partial to a man of science myself, Loopy, but Barold?! Really??” Lup was in a second, shooting a quick glance toward the door and then back towards her brother. Summoning a small flame in her hand, she held it in his direction.

“Let’s keep it down for a second, shall we? I wouldn’t want to hurt the face (tmtmtm).” Taako gulped.

“I think I can agree to that...but you need to spill those beans.” Lup looked around one last time, and then cast silence.

“Now, I’ll be taking questions, but don’t expect answers for each one. This will also serve as our ‘intervention’ thing from last week.” In all honesty, she was kind of glad that the cat was out of the bag, because damn if it wasn’t hard to keep it all in. Without an outlet, she had no control over whether she’d start being a shithead to Barry again. She probably would have cracked if Barry had kept on accidentally brushing her hands and apologising over beakers. Crack, attempt to kiss him, and then ruin everything...well, at least she could make it Taako’s problem now. He had basically signed himself up for a course in every single cute thing that Barry had done.

Taako frowned. “1. Why didn’t you tell me?”

Lup sighed. “Would you believe me if I told you that it was to avoid this exact situation? Also, I wanted to spare poor Barold the thorough ragging/line of questioning/protective brother gauntlet you would make him run.”

“Valid, but you’re also not going to escape my line of questioning that easily. Next, when?”

“Hard to pinpoint exactly when, but would you believe me if I said 12 cycles ago?” Taako softened.

“Has it really been that long?” Lup nodded, and Taako wordlessly reached over to give her a hug.

“It’s just a surprisingly resilient crush,” She tried, but the words felt wrong in her mouth. Taako gave her a look, and she knew he could see right through it.

“Listen, my dude, maybe, hear me out on this ok? Maybe he also “likes” you? Have you considered that?”

And now, for my soliloquy. When you form relationships and bonds with someone, you start to notice the little things about them, and those actions, those gestures start to mean something. We pick up on these things - whether we realise it or not - from the people we are about, and when you spend 9 hours a day, every day, for years, with someone you may or may not be falling for, it’s a lot of time to think about them. Lup had spent countless amounts of time trying to dissect what it meant, every accidental single touch, and stuttered apology, and nuance of the man she was starting to love over those 12 long cycles. The problem was finding where the bias ended and the facts began. How could she possibly look at him when a brush of the hands sent her reeling? She was the only other “real” scientist on the ship, so how could she equate scarcity to him specifically choosing her? There was no way to.

“Taako, when I tell you I’ve tried, I mean it, but sometimes there’s more risk than reward.”

“More risk than reward as in ‘he’s my coworker and it wouldn’t be appropriate’ sort of risk? Risque? Like ‘oooh, office scandal?”

“No, like ‘we live in the same damn ship’ kind of risk. Do you have any idea of how awkward that could be? ‘Sorry for hogging the shower, haha, remember when we used to bone a few months back?’”

Taako stuck out his tongue. “Please don’t make me think of you and Barold boning -”

“- well, I didn’t ask about the risks. Your fault.”

“Listen, Lup. How about we try something out?”

“Honestly, I’m open to basically anything at this point. Shoot.”

“I have a fun little idea. I’ll jot down every single damn time I observe him pining from afar over you for a week. Then, I can share the list, you can have your proof, and you’ll be our token straight couple (tmtmtm) on the ‘blaster. Sound like a deal?”

“You know what? I have nothing to lose, why not? Go right ahead.”

-_-_-_-_-_-_-

After one week of observation, it took Taako 10 minutes to read the list out. Lup was pleasantly surprised, but now she had to make a decision, which was the exact thing that she was shit at.

Taako’s grin was almost inhumanly (inelfanly??) wide, as he stared her down over his 3 foot long list of Lup mentions.

“Well, I think it’s time for someone to get a hot date!”

“You may be spur of the moment, but I have things to plan. This has to be perfect.” Lup knew that the end of the cycle was coming, though it took a back seat, and her plans were shattered when the columns of darkness started shooting out of the sky and everyone rushed inside the ship. Next time, she told herself, as the world started to wobble again. It would be the next cycle.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Legato….notes that are connected and joined together, flowing and matching and fitting. It made sense to her, as everyone scattered after the ceremony, and she and Barry were left sitting in awe, staring at the mountain that had just sent them back the music. It was now or never, she guessed. Lup walked over to Barry and held her breath as she asked the question in a rush.

“Would you maybe want to want to write something together for our piece? It’s ok if not, I know that everyone else is working individually but -”

“- Lup,” Barry said gently, “I’d be honored.” His eyes were earnest, and it was all Lup could do to concentrate on his words as he talked about a few ideas that he’d gotten during the “rebroadcasting”. This cycle. This would change it all.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-

**Author's Note:**

> kudos and comments would sure help a man write more. I am proud of this because it took me like 4 hours to write, but it may be of a lower quality, if so, I apologise. I haven't slept for abt 72 hours but the idea came to me as I was tossing and turning.


End file.
